Two games out of at least 35 on the schedule for No. 6 Purdue this season certainly constitutes a small sample size.
But it’s not too early to say that the Boilermakers have all the talent a team needs to win, and win big.
Want more proof?
How about the fact that preseason All-American Trevion Williams came off the bench Friday night when Purdue walloped Indiana State 92-67, its second straight blowout win over an outmatched foe?
The Boilermakers aim to make it three consecutive one-sided victories to start the season on Tuesday night when they welcome Wright State to West Lafayette, Ind., for another non-conference contest.
Purdue got a combined 49 points from Jaden Ivey and Zach Edey against Indiana State. Ivey scored 27 to go along with eight rebounds and four assists, while the 7-4 Edey added 10 rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots in just 18 minutes.
“When you’re that big and have that kind of cargo, he’s hard to deal with,” Boilermakers coach Matt Painter said of Edey. “Jaden is someone who has to pick his spots and he did a much better job today of picking his spots.”
Ivey needed just 13 shots to score his points, and Edey went 8-for-9 from the field. Williams turned in 11 points and eight rebounds in 20 minutes, while Caleb Furst added 12 points and eight boards.
Purdue canned 53.4 percent from the field and was 8-of-20 on 3-pointers, one game after canning 16 from deep in its season opener, and also grabbed 12 offensive boards.
“They’re elite on both ends of the floor, have incredible size and great talent,” Indiana State coach Josh Schertz said. “All the hype is legit, and they have a chance to be the last team standing.”
As for Wright State (1-1), it wasted a career-high 37 points from Grant Basile on Friday night in a 96-88 loss at Marshall. Basile was 12 of 21 from the field and 12 of 14 at the line, but his effort wasn’t enough to save the Raiders.
Wright State was poor defensively, enabling the Thundering Herd to make 52.4 percent from the field and earn a 41-35 advantage on the boards. It’s rebounding that’s been a focus of coach Scott Nagy.
“I want us to rebound the ball better. I want that to be a focus for us,” he said to the Dayton Daily News. “I don’t like seeing 6-foot-8 guys checking back (on defense) when we’re shooting the ball. We’ve got to get that figured out.”
Basile and Tanner Holden, who scored 25 at Marshall, are the team’s marquee names. Basile was a first-team pick on the Horizon League’s preseason squad and Holden earned second team honors. The Raiders were selected for a second-place finish behind Cleveland State after going 18-6 last season.
This will be the first meeting between the two programs.
–Field Level Media
